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January 5th, 2013 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI!

SIT WITH US TO WELCOME 2013, and THIS EVER NEW MOMENT. PLEASE PRINT OUT THE SHORT NEW YEARS TALKS BY MASTER DOGEN I AM POSTING BELOW.

ALSO NOTE, DAYLIGHT SAVINGS CLOCKS HAVE ROLLED BACK IN EUROPE, and NEXT WEEK IN AMERICA.

Dear All,

Please 'sit-a-long' with our MONTHLY4-hourZAZENKAI, netcast LIVE8am to noon Japan time Saturday morning (that is New York 6pm to 10pm, Los Angeles 3pm to 7pm (Friday night), London 11pm to 3am and Paris midnight to 4am (early Saturday morning))

... to be visible at the following link during those times and any time thereafter ...

LIVE ZAZENKAI NETCAST at GOOGLE+ IS HERE:CLICK ON THE TAB ON LOWER RIGHT FOR 'FULL SCREEN

FOR THOSE NOT ALREADY MEMBERS OF THE CIRCLE WHO WISH TO JOIN TO SIT LIVE WITH A CAMERA, INSTRUCTIONS are posted AT THIS LINK. WE ARE NOW LIMITED TO 10 INDIVIDUALS WITH CAMERAS, BUT ANY NUMBER CAN WATCH LIVE 'ONE WAY' AND SIT-A-LONG VIA THE ABOVE SCREEN. IF JOINING WITH CAMERA, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR MICROPHONE IS MUTED:

Our Zazenkai consists of our chanting the 'Heart Sutra' and the 'Identity of Relative and Absolute (Sandokai)' in English (please download our Chant Book at the link below), some full floor prostrations (please follow along with me ... or a simple Gassho can be substituted if you wish), a little talk by me ... and we close with the 'Metta Chant', followed at the end with the 'Verse of Atonement' and 'The Four Vows'. Oh, and lots and lots of Zazen and walkin' Kinhin in between!

Please download and print out the Chants we will recite at the following link (PDF):

I STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT YOU POSITION YOUR ZAFU ON THE FLOOR IN A PLACE WHERE YOU ARE NOT STARING DIRECTLY AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN, BUT CAN GLANCE OVER AND SEE THE SCREEN WHEN NECESSARY. YOUR ZAFU SHOULD ALSO BE IN A POSITION WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE COMPUTER SCREEN WHILE STANDING IN FRONT OF THE ZAFU FOR THE CEREMONIES, AND HAVE ROOM FOR BOWING AND KINHIN.

ALSO, REMEMBER TO SET YOUR COMPUTER (& SCREEN SAVER) SO THAT IT DOES NOT SHUT OFF DURING THE 4 HOURS.

I hope you will join us ... an open Zafu is waiting. When we drop all thought of 'here' 'there' 'now' 'then' ... we are sitting all together!

Today is the beginning of a new year [1241], and also a day with three mornings. I say three mornings because it is the beginning of the year, beginning of the month, and the beginning of the day.
Here is a story. A monk asked Jingqing Daofu, "Is there Buddha Dharma at the beginning of the new year or not?"
Jingqing said, "There is."
The monk asked, "What is the Buddha Dharma at the beginning of the new year?"
Jingqing said, "New Year's Day begins with a blessing, and the ten thousand things are completely new."
The monk said, "Thank you, teacher, for your answer."
Jingqing said, "This old monk today lost the advantage."
A monk asked Mingjiao Zhimen Shikuan, "Is there Buddha Dharma
at the beginning of the new year, or not?"
Mingjiao said, "There is not."
The monk said, "Every year is a good year, every day is a good day; why isn't there [Buddha Dharma in the beginning of the new year]?"
Mingjiao said, "Old man Zhang drinks, and old man Li gets drunk."
The monk said, "Great Elder, [you are like] a dragon's head and snake's tail."
Mingjiao said, "This old monk today lost the advantage."
The teacher Dogen said: [Both teachers] say the same, "This old monk today lost the advantage."
Hearing such a story many people say, "These are good stories about [teachers] losing advantage [in a dialogue]." This mountain monk [Dogen] does not at all agree. Although Jingqing and Mingjiao speak of one loss, they do not yet see one gain. Suppose somebody were to ask me, Kosho, if there is Buddha Dharma at the beginning of the new year, or not.
I would say to them: There is.
Suppose the monk responded, "What is the Buddha Dharma at the beginning of the new year?"
This mountain monk would say to him: May each and every body, whether staying still or standing up, have ten thousand blessings.
Suppose the monk said, "In that case, in accordance with this saying, I will practice."
This mountain monk would say to him: I, Kosho, today have advantage after advantage.
Now please practice.

AS THE HEAVENLY sky is clear, each and every thing purifies each and every other thing. The earth is covered with nourishing moisture, penetrating a thousand things and soaking ten thousand things. How is it such a time as this?
After a pause [Dogen] said:
The harmonious expression of spring makes the whole world fragant,
The deity of spring sits impassively in the Cloud [monks'] hall.
On every branch their flowers blooming of coral color,
The opening of blossoms, throughout the world open, makes this is
a celestial realm.

The great master Dogen in a New Year’s dharma hall discourse said, “The ancient Buddha Hongzhi, while residing at Tiantong, in a New Year’s dharma hall discourse said, ‘In the New Year’s morning zazen the myriad things are natural. Mind after mind is beyond dichotomies. Buddha after buddha manifests presently. The snow on the river is completely pure and white. The mind of the son of Sha is satisfied while on his fishing boat. Study this.’”

The teacher Dogen then said, “This morning I, Daibutsu, respectfully continue this poem.” After a pause Dogen said, “This great auspicious New Year’s morning, I enjoy zazen. In accord with this occasion, offering congratulations is natural. Mind after mind the spring faces laugh with delight. Buddha after buddha pulls the oxen around before our eyes, presenting an auspicious sign. Over a foot of snow covers the mountain. Fishing for a person, fishing for a self on the fishing boat.”

Hello everyone,
for those who cannot attend live and have time a 7 hours later, I'll host a re-sit at g+ at 7am GMT, its also added to the Google+ and to the Treeleaf calendar so you can lookup your local time. A video of the original zazenkai is streamed into the hangout.
Gassho
Myoku